A familiar living environment should be created to help the two “jungle men” who were recently brought back into civilized life after living in a forest in Quang Ngai province for 40 years in order to gradually integrate them into contemporary conditions, a scientist has advised. 

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Associate Prof. Dr Nguyen Van Tiep, former head of the Human Studies Department at the Ho Chi Minh City University of Social Sciences and Humanities, shared his thoughts with Tuoi Tre in an interview about the “jungle men”, 82-year-old Ho Van Thanh and his son, 44-year-old Ho Van Lang, and ways for them to adapt to civilized life. 

Thanh and Lang were taken out of a dense forest in the province on August 7, when Thanh was suffering from health issues. He took Lang into the forest after a bombing in 1974, during the Vietnam War, in Tra Kem Hamlet, Tay Tra District, which killed his mother and his two oldest children. At that time, Lang was 5 years old.

He is now being treated at the Tay Tra District Health Center, and Lang is living with his younger brother, Ho Van Lam, the youngest son from the family.     While local authorities and relatives are trying to help them integrate into a new life, the men have said they miss the hut they built in a tree in their familiar forest and want to return to it. Therefore, some people wonder if they should be returned to the forest.  

Regarding this issue, Dr Tiep said, “bringing Thang and his son into civilized life is a good thing, since any good government must think of improving the life of its residents, although the case of this father and son is rare.  Moreover, it is a humanitarian deed, since it has created conditions for the sick old man to receive medical treatment.”

Asked what would be done to help the “jungle men” integrate into a new life, Tiep said such integration cannot take place overnight, but a period of time is needed for them to gradually get used to the way of life of people around them and to give up their habits and customs that have been formed over 40 years of living in the forest.

In order to help them feel comfortable during this process, authorities should provide them with a living environment that is similar to the one in the forest, Tiep said.

“For example, we can build a stilt house for them instead of a modern house, which they will probably not like because it would be very strange to them. Also, we should not ask them to immediately access or use modern facilities that they have never seen before,” Tiep explained.

“We should not impose new conditions on them but should let them have time to get used to new things around them,” he added.

“If we return them to the forest, I can image a very bad outcome, which is that the 82-year-old man will die of untreated diseases, while his son, Lang, will lead a lonely life without help from his relatives and the community,” Tiep said.

“If this were to happen, we would unintentionally commit an offense by not respecting their right to be human beings. In fact, we would deprive them of their right to be human beings,” the scientist said.

“If the men are isolated from society, their personalities cannot develop in the best way possible. The two men had to live in a forest for 40 years due to their own situation, and they have suffered a lot of disadvantages. Therefore, if we try to return them to the forest again, we will commit an inhumane act,” Tiep said.

The scientist also answered several other questions from Tuoi Tre.

Q: Many people worry that Lang, who is now 44, will struggle to integrate into modern life. What do you think about this?

A: As Thanh lived a normal life for 42 years before moving into the forest, he will not face much difficulty re-integrating into society. But his son, Lang, who was taken to the forest when he was a little boy, will face far more difficulties than Thanh.

However, while living in the forest, he was taught how to hunt, forage for food, cook, and grow crops, among other skills. That means he has been equipped with skills that will enable him to exist and make a living in a community.

Moreover, their relatives and locals sometimes visited the men while they lived in the forest, so Lang has not been totally isolated.

Therefore, I believe that if everyone tries to help him adjust to new conditions in the proper manner, I think Lang’s integration will not be too hard over time.

Q: Authorities intend to build a house for the old man, who was a former soldier in the Vietnam War, and his son. What are your thoughts on this?

A: As I have said, we should give them familiar living conditions in the first steps to re-integrate them into society. Therefore, we should build a small stilt house that is similar to their hut in the forest, and it should be located near their relatives and locals to create relations between them. It is not advisable to build modern houses made of brick, cement or concrete. They will not like such a house and will not stay in it. We should re-create what they have lived with for more than 40 year in the forest.